Recreational Therapists in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,880
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$17,480
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,827
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$76,360
Kept after tax
$58,880
Worth in national money
$59,827
State rank
6
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for recreational therapists is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $76,360, putting the state 6 of 48 — about 23.24% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations Minnesota reports figures for, this is number 191.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $76,360, tax leaves $58,880, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $59,827 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $75,120.
- For recreational therapists, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $76,360, ranking 6 of 48 and running about 23.24% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Minnesota's occupational distribution, recreational therapists sits at 191 of 490 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Minnesota sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for recreational therapists — median $76,360 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $58,880 retained, $59,827 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $75,120 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $55,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,570 |
| This salary | $76,360 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Minnesota | $58,880 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,549 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,540 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $71,145 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,272 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Minnesota earn less than $76,360. The published range is $55,210 up to $97,570, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Minnesota the take-home figure of $58,880, from $76,360, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 191 of 490 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,827 uses one figure for the whole of Minnesota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 191.
- Reported values are medians; for recreational therapists in Minnesota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $55,210 to $97,570. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Minnesota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,880 from $76,360. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 191 of 490 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,827, worked from $76,360, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Minnesota address, on work sitting at 191 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $55,210 at the bottom tenth to $97,570 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $59,827.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Minnesota's own levy, $58,880 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($55,210 to $97,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $59,827 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $58,880 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.